On Saturday 26th of February, I got free entry into the Cardiff international comic and animation expo, in the Mercure Holland House hotel. I got free entry thanks to Otakuzoku for helping them in-store in the week and for assisting their vendor in the expo. This was the first convention I was going to cover, and the fact that it was practically in my backyard was an added bonus for my legs and wallet. I’ve kind of made it an unwritten rule of mine to never visit conventions unless they where showcasing something new and exclusive to the convention. I can flood this feature with a deluge of reasons like the Yangtze Flood of 1935, to why I avoid them.
First you got the fact that most of the concessions for promotional brands are inflated beyond belief, so unless they’re convention exclusive (Such as exclusive action figures, which you can later sell on Ebay for a considerable profit) it’s really worth waiting until such inventory becomes widely available in store or online.
Second you got the fact that these places are usually cramped and humid in which rushing around a lot can make you dehydrated if you don’t have water on you (which I suggest you buy before each convention because again food and drink does really cost here).
And final reason is the unbearably eccentric and devout fans who “represent” each of the respective franchises on show. Fans such as Weeaboos ( people obsessed with Japanese culture)proselytising those without anime savvy to watch Naruto or debate on who is the hottest character in Death note, L or Kira. And not to mention the obligatory Star Wars Stormtrooper troupe for each convention, pelvic thrusting the air in your general direction and making other dancing motions not even fit for the Mos Eisley Bar. I know conventions are made for people to just have fun and celebrate their favourite works of fiction, but I suppose your mileage may vary.
The Convention itself did have a very diverse selection of comic book fiction, however it was centralised mainly on promoting the work of local artists. A broad spectrum was available for different cliques, provided you knew what you where looking for.
For example a recent comic adaptation of Barry Nugent’s Novel “Fallen angels” was now available, which explored the strange bedfellow cadre of heroes and anti heroes teaming up together to fight a mysterious evil. For fans of classic literature, a group called “Classic comics” was also promoting their adaptations of classic literature such as “Great expectations”, retold in a comic book format.
There were also very outlandish titles such as Dr Geof and his amazing “Fetishman” comic which is about a man who is trapped in a restrictive latex suit who fails to fight crime because of this restriction. I failed to see the appeal of this comic, however apparently it has a small following due to its lewd nature.
Probably the biggest element to the convention was the appearance of “Charlie Adlard”, Artist for “The walking Dead” Comic. The Basic synopsis sets the Story in a post-apocalyptic world where a small time police officer rallies up several survivors to find a stable home in amongst the zombie-ridden holocaust. The Comic has already produced a televised spin off, set to air its second season in late October.
The convention even had Welsh comic book Company Dalen books promoting their ventures, which basically set out to translate a selection of comics into welsh, such as Tin Tin and Arthur the Legend. They even had samples of the first few pages their own welsh comic called Derwyddon. My biggest complaint about this however, is that these comics had very niche appeal, and as a more lucrative business venture it might have been wise to include mainstream translations in their repertoire.
There was also a few vendors from local stores around the area, including Forbidden Planet that had a few Dr who memorabilia, and Genki Gear selling t-shirts with Anime motifs and other relatable Memes. There were also Comic book vendors available, including Otakuzoku’s inventory which, while I’ am attempting not to sound to partial, had a very good selection of Manga ( anime comics) for a wide spectrum of fans.
There were also a few events such as the Cosplay competition hosted by Otakuzoku which was interesting to say the least when people actually put of effort into their costumes, ( this varied from a meticulously designed Leon costume from the Resident Evil game, to the scant homage of Spiderman, discerned only from his face-painted mask).
While at the convention I attended two Q&A panels including Matthew Savage who was the concept artist for the recent of Dr who as well as collaborating such films as The Dark knight and Kick-Ass. He discussed his experience working with Christopher Nolan and putting aside his own personal aesthetics into order to meet the desired output wanted by the executives he was working for. ( for example he had to redesign his initial concept art of the Daleks, which where a homage to the 1960’s design, to something more accessible to a modern audience. )
I also sat in on the Q&A of Paul Cornell’s recent Comic “Knight and Squire” and his collaboration with artist Jimmy Broxton. The comic was an alternate retelling of the Batman franchise set in an anachronistic Britain, intended to be comic that celebrates and alludes to aspects of British culture. The panel was not as formal as Matthew Savage’s Q&A, and the discussions were often more Light-hearted in nature and anecdotal. For example Jimmy Broxton recounted on the backlash of the in-joke of hiding his name in each panel, which many critics responded to virulently, approximating it to something similar to tooting your own horn.
Overall my previous aside of rings true here in terms of going to a convention for the right reasons. Unless interested solely in Local comics, or Dr who, there wasn’t really much there to appeal to a wider audience.
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